Tuesday night's World Cup 2022 Group B showdown between Wales and longtime rivals England at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium is a crucial clash as it will determine the fate of the two nations qualifying for the round of 16 knockout stages of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. England will progress to the last 16 as group winners with all three points, while Wales - who lost 2-0 to Iran on Friday - must triumph and hope that other results go their way to stand a chance of making it through. Wales played Iran on Friday in an attempt to increase their chances of making the World Cup knockout round. However, they put on a dismal performance and were duly penalized for it, although not until the 98th minute.

Wales last time out succumbed to injury-time goals from Roozbeh Cheshmi and Ramin Razaeian leaving their supporters devasted and desperately hoping to win their tonight's clash against England. Bottom of the section with just one point to their name, Wales must beat England and hope that Iran's clash with the USA ends in a draw to secure a place in the knockout stages, but a win for Iran or USA will see them get eliminated not unless they can crash Gareth Southgate's men with at least a four goals margin. Should Wales fail to take all three points in Tuesday's game, it will mark the first time in their history that they have gone through a major tournament without a single win to their name. However, they may take encouragement from England's similarly dismal performance against the USA.

Some of the England fans in the stadium appeared to boo their own players off the field after an uninteresting draw in their game against the Americans coming a few hours after they had enjoyed seeing wales being trumped by Iran.  Christian Pulisic's effort which crashed against the crossbar represented the best chance of the game, as England lost the attacking acumen that saw them hit Iran for six on the first match day and missed the chance to wrap up a top-two finish with a game to spare. Although Southgate questioned if his players had actually faced jeers off the field, he cannot deny that his team will need to play much better tonight to ensure their spot in the round of 16. A clean victory will guarantee this. However, a draw will also be enough.

Tuesday's game will mark the first time in history that England have faced a fellow British nation in the World Cup. There will be certainly no love between the two sides as they prepare to meet for the 104th time in a match that they are both looking for a crucial three points to guarantee a spot in the knockout stages of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The match might end 3-2 in favour of England.

(Image: Khel now)